Its No Good at All to See Yourself and Not Recognise Your Face
by lauraay
Summary: "And what if I don't want to be with Jessica anymore?" His words knock the wind right out of her and she halts in her step. No. No, Wyatt. You can't go around saying things like that. Not anymore. "What if you're the one that I want to be with?" Wyatt puts a stop to Lucy putting words in his mouth. Canon divergence from 2x07.


**My first new piece of writing in around 3 or 4 years... Wow, it feels good to write again! I'm still getting a feel for writing these characters, so keep in mind that the voices may not be 100% in character.**

 **Also yes, the title is from** ** _Bet on It_** **from** ** _High School Musical 2_** **... You can blame my goats for that.**

* * *

"Watch it." Wyatt forces out between his teeth as Flynn kicks him in the shins… yet again. _Three seats in this eyeball is a tight enough squeeze, why'd they have put a fourth in!? Why is Flynn the one that has to take the fourth seat?_

"Sorry, but there's not exactly a lot of room in here." Wyatt knows the older man is anything but sorry.

The four occupants of the lifeboat hold in their nausea as they begin to unbuckle their seatbelts. Rufus is still in the driver's seat, flicking switches to shut the time machine down. The door slides open and the rickety metal staircase is already there waiting for them to depart. Rufus finishes shutting down the lifeboat, before he squeezes past the other passengers, in a desperate rush to get to Jiya, who is waiting for him at the foot of the stairs.

The team had been away for longer than expected this time, with Emma and her goons leading them on a wild goose chase through Washington DC in 1963. All Rittenhouse had wanted, was to stop Martin Luther King Jr. from delivering his 'I Have a Dream' speech. Yet they had arrived a week earlier than the speech was due to be given, and then - as they had found when they returned home - proceeded to jump back and forth between their current present and their real present. Despite having been given the run-around, they successfully stopped Rittenhouse and the civil rights activist successfully delivered his speech. They're not even sure if Rittenhouse wanted to stop the speech, or if they just wanted to distract them while screwing up history in some other way.

Lucy stands to follow Rufus out of the lifeboat. As she goes to take her first step, Flynn stretches his legs out in front him. Her foot catches on his ankle and before she knows what's happening, Lucy is falling straight towards Wyatt. She lands awkwardly in his lap, his arms reaching out and securing themselves around her waist to keep her from falling any more. The two freeze for a moment, both wishing more than anything that they could stay tangled up together. A small smile crosses Lucy's lips, a glint in her eye… _preferably in a bed_.

Flynn smirks at the two caught up in each other. He has no desire to sit and watch them make eyes at each other, so he discretely stands and exits the life boat.

Lucy rests her hands on Wyatt's shoulders and tries to push herself up. His arms are still firmly locked around her waist, holding her in place. "Uh… Wyatt?" She looks down at his arms and then back up into his eyes.

Wyatt shakes himself from his thoughts, and loosens his grip on her waist. "Sorry. Uh… yeah, sorry."

Lucy stands, but keeps her hands resting on his shoulders. She moves one hand to his chin, guiding his head up so she can look him in the eyes, her face one of concern. "You okay?"

He nods slightly, and throws a brief, sad smile up at her. "Yeah… yeah I'm good."

"Okay, if you're sure?" She frowns at him slightly.

"Yeah, I'm sure." With this hands still on her waist, he pushes her back slightly so he can stand from his designated seat. Lucy knows she should step away from him. She should remove his hands from her waist. She should remove her hands from where they've both drifted up to hold his face, from where they're stroking softly across his cheeks and his jaw. He has a wife down in the bunker waiting for him, she shouldn't be doing this.

"We should…" Lucy removes her hands from him and nods her head in the direction of the door.

"Probably." He agrees. Wyatt uses his hands on her waist to nudge her out before him. They duck out of the lifeboat and descend the steps, coming to an awkward pause once they both reach solid ground.

Lucy turns to him and smiles. "Go… be with Jessica." The look on Wyatt's face as she turns to walk away is one that she is sure will haunt her for several days. _Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't tur-_

"And what if I don't want to be with Jessica anymore?" His words knock the wind right out of her and she halts in her step. _No. No, Wyatt. You can't go around saying things like that. Not anymore._ "What if you're the one that I want to be with?"

Lucy spins to face him, the shock she feels at his words evident on her face. "No, Wyatt-"

"Lucy, please… just listen to me." He watches as she closes her eyes and takes a breath. The nod of her head is barely noticeable, but of course he sees it. He notices everything about her. Wyatt takes a step towards her. He wants to reach out to her, to take her hand in his as he talks, but he knows thats a step to far right now. "I broke it off with Jessica. I signed the divorce papers."

"Wy-" He puts his hand over her mouth to stop her saying anything more. He's tried talking to her several times, but every time she has shut him down and told him to ' _go be with Jessica_.' He's sick and tired of people telling him how he feels and who he should be with. Not this time.

"No, Lucy. I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not going to stand here and let you put words in my mouth. Once upon a time I loved her more than anything. She was my whole world. And then some jackass took her from me. I broke, and I spent so long grieving for her." Wyatt drops his hand from over her mouth, to rest on her shoulder. He closes his eyes, bows his head slightly, and takes a deep, steadying breath before he looks back up at her and continues. "I tried so hard to get her back, but that was no way to live. You helped me see that. Because of you, I realised that I didn't have to be miserable for the rest of my life. That I could move on and be happy. That Jessica would want me to do just that. So I did. I moved on and I fell in love with such an incredible woman."

"And now you have your world back, Wyatt. Please, just let me do what you did and move on." Her heart breaks for him.

Wyatt sighs and shakes his head. _Why did I have to fall in love with someone so stubborn…_ "You're missing my point here, Lucy. She _was_ my world. Past tense. The man I am now, the man you helped me to become, is not the same man that loved her. Being with her these past few weeks… We don't belong together, not anymore. When I'm with her, all I can think about is the jealous, angry… _child_ I was back then and I don't want to be that person anymore."

Lucy sighs and removes his hand from her shoulder. He's right. She has to stop telling him how he feels about Jessica, but doing that - pushing him away - is easier than accepting his choice. Than accepting he chose Jessica over her. And she knows that's not fair on him, or his relationship with Jessica, but she can't help how she feels. She can't help feeling like the consolation prize.

"Lucy, no. God no. You are not a consolation prize, not ever." He says it with so much conviction that she almost believes him. _But how did he… Did I?_ He chuckles at the crease in her brow. "Yeah, you said all that out loud."

"Damnit, Lucy." She curses, aware that now talking to herself isn't reassuring him - or herself - of her sanity any more.

"Look, forget about Jessica for a moment. It's just us. Wyatt and Lucy. Logan and Preston." The names force the smile to re-appear on her face. A reminder of a simpler time. "How do you feel about me?"

He raises his eyebrows at her. He wants honesty. _I can do that. I love you. I love you._ "I-" Her eyes are wide and searching. He can see how scared she is. The last time she opened herself up to him, he threw her away like she was nothing but a pile of trash the moment his ex-wife stepped back into the picture. He can't blame her for being unable to open up to him again so soon.

"Ok, let's try this another way. You think you can handle yes or no questions?" She nods her head affirmative. That's all he needs.

"Do you love me?" She nods.

"Do you believe that I love you?" She nods.

"Do you want to be with me?" She nods.

"Do you believe that I want to be with you?" She stays frozen. He sighs, nodding his head slowly. "After everything I've put you through recently, I can't blame you for being unsure about that. But I do. I love you with everything that I am. I want to be with you, Lucy."

He reaches for her, pulling her into a crushing embrace. She hesitates for a second before wrapping her arms around his waist. "I can't say it. Not yet." She whispers against him.

"I know. I don't expect you to. Just… can we start by spending time with each other? One on one?" He holds his breath, worried one on one may be a step to big right now.

"Like a date?" She pulls back and looks up into his face. Her eyes once again searching.

"It doesn't have to be, if you don't want it to be. The ball is in your court, you're in control here." He brings a hand up to rest against her cheek.

"I want it to be. Just… " She trails off.

He looks at her expectingly, full of hope. "Just what?"

A smile he never thought he'd see again - at least directed at him - lights up her face. "How do you plan on breaking us out of here?"

His face tells her everything she needs to know.


End file.
